Sir Jim had secret love

Sue Hymns, left, with Jimmy at the opening of the YPN offices on Wellington street

Published:14:29Monday 05 December 2011

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THE “secret lover” of lifelong bachelor Sir Jimmy Savile has broken her 43-year-old silence about her relationship with the late star.

Sue Hymns, 61, became close with the legendary DJ, who was laid to rest last month at Scarborough’s Woodlands Cemetery, following a chance meeting in 1968.

She was on her way to a doctor’s appointment while the former Top of the Pops host was doing a shift at Leeds Hospital as a volunteer porter.

The mother-of-one was tracked down by the Daily Mail following his death and after much soul-searching, has decided to speak out in a bid to “set the record straight” about Sir Jim’s private life.

The Mail’s Natalie Clarke writes: “The first words he ever spoke to her were: ‘Now then, now then.’ Yes, really.

“As chat-up lines go, it may not have been the most seductive. But that chance meeting led to a relationship that was to last, on and off, right up until Savile’s death in October aged 84. A relationship which Sue describes as being as close as any marriage, yet which remained hidden from all but the star’s dearest friends.”

Sue, who lives in South-West London and works as a PA at a health company, told the newspaper: “The funny thing is that Jim and I went out and about in Leeds all the time and must have been photographed hundreds of times by fans.

“Sometimes people would ask who I was and Jim would say: ‘Oh, this is Sue, she’s my cleaner.’

Sue said that Sir Jim had decided early on that marriage and children would never work because of his showbiz lifestyle, adding: “Our relationship was unconventional, but it lasted longer than many marriages.”

Their last date together was at Sir Jim’s favourite restaurant – the Flying Pizza in Leeds– in August.

She learned of his death on October 29 by text message.

“I couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I bought the papers the next morning and he was on the front pages, and I just thought: ‘Oh no, that’s my Jim’, and I cried.”